


i swear that i loved you

by auroracode



Category: The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Mechtober 2020, More characters to be added as they appear - Freeform, headcanon heavy in regards to billy vangelis and one eyed jack, if you really squint slight implications that one eyed jack is jonny's real father, jonny and doc carmilla have a complicated relationship, jonny and the aurora are friends, unbetaed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:13:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26821207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/auroracode/pseuds/auroracode
Summary: Small moments in Jonny's life with the people who could be considered his family
Relationships: Dr Carmilla & Jonny d'Ville, Jonny d'Ville & Billy Vangelis, Jonny d'Ville & One-Eyed Jack, The Aurora & Jonny d'Ville
Comments: 4
Kudos: 52





	i swear that i loved you

**Author's Note:**

> this is unbetaed so if you see any mistakes please let me know
> 
> title from little soldiers by the crane wives

Jonathan Vangelis flinched at the sound of the front door slamming open echoed through the house, his heart speeding up as he listened to his father’s footsteps coming down the hall. He knew the man had been at One Eyed Jack’s casino again, and from the apparent anger in his steps it was doubtful he’d had a winning hand. 

Jonathan felt anger rising in his throat at the very thought of the money his father had probably lost. He was the one having to repay the man’s debts by working for Jack, and yet he kept on racking them up. He could be remorseful about it at times, sometimes on the rare occasions when Billy Vangelis was actually sober, he’d tearfully apologize for being a terrible father and putting such a burden on his son’s shoulders. Whether there was any truth in those words though, Jonathan didn’t know; despite his apparent regret, his father never tried to stop gambling.

It was possible, of course, that his father didn’t know exactly what kind of work Jack had him doing; but Jonathan doubted it. No matter how drunk the man frequently was, it would be hard to miss the stains on his clothes or the way he’d desperately scrub at his hands in an attempt to get the blood out from under his nails. 

“Boy! Why is there no food?” His father’s slurred shout as he stomped into the room was loud enough that the neighbors probably heard it, and Jonathan quickly jumped to his feet and scrambled backwards so that their old ratty couch was between him and the man. There was little way to predicate how volatile his father would act each time he got home, and he wanted to make sure he had a head start on escaping if he needed to. 

“There’s no money for it.” He informed his father, slowly inching his way further backwards, he was ready to bolt the moment a hand was so much as raised. “You keep gambling it all away.” 

A furious expression arose on Billy Vangelis’s face and Jonathan began reaching behind his back for the door handle, ready to run out into the night any second. 

“What’s the point of you working for Jack if you’re not bringing home any money?” He demanded and Jonathan could do nothing but stare at him in shock. 

“My work,” He began, speaking slowly and enunciating each word, “Is paying off your debts to him, there is no extra money coming in. Perhaps if you would stop wasting your time betting away everything we own, there would be.” He regretted the words as soon they left his mouth, saw his father begin to step forward and quickly ripped the door behind him open and dashed out of it. 

The night was pitch black, but the dark road he ran along was one he’d travelled plenty of times before on previous nights. He wasn’t really sure where he was going, sometimes he had to just stay outside for hours until his father had gone to bed, while other times one of the neighbors would spot him and let him crash on their porch with a blanket. 

He both hated and was grateful for those times, it was nice to be able to just go to sleep and not have to stay up waiting, but it was hard having to hear the sounds of a happy family from within the house. It was something he knew he’d never have.

* * *

“Jonny, my boy!” A bright grin split One-Eyed Jack’s face as Jonny walked in through the casino’s back door, his expression tired and blood staining his clothes. “Another job well done!” 

A pained grunt was the only response Jonny could give him, as he pressed a hand to his side in an attempt to stop himself from bleeding out. One of the benefits of him being Jack’s go to hitman was that very few people expected someone his age to be the one sent to kill them, most of the time even if they knew someone would be coming for them, they were caught off guard. That hadn’t been the case today though, he didn’t know if people had finally caught on to what he was doing for Jack, or if the guy had just been paranoid, but they’d managed to get a hit on him before he could shoot them. 

Honestly if it wasn’t for how good of a shot Jonny was, he was sure he would have been hurt worse, but he still wasn’t particularly happy with what had happened. His side hurt horribly and he felt woozy from blood loss, he really wasn’t sure how he would make it home, getting to the casino had been hard enough. 

“Jonny!” Jack calling out his name shook the boy from his daze, and he was surprised to find the casino owner suddenly standing right in front of him. “Let me see it son.” If it wasn’t such a ridiculous notion Jonny would have almost thought his boss was worried based off of his tone, as he pulled him over to a couch and pried his hand off the wound. 

Jonny involuntarily let out a hiss as Jack carefully poked at the wound before gritting his teeth together in an attempt to keep anymore sound from escaping, he didn’t want to show any weakness if he could help it. Jack seemed to find his actions amusing and let out a snort, as he finished examining the injury. 

"It'll need to be cleaned and wrapped, but you'll live." The man stood and walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a glass and a bottle of what Jonny knew to be very strong alcohol. Pouring some into a glass, he walked back over to Jonny and offered it to him. “Not going to be pleasant, best if you’re a bit out of it.”

Jonny hesitated a moment, before grabbing the glass and drinking it in one go. The alcohol burned his throat as it went down and he couldn’t help but grimace, he’d never really understood the appeal of drinking. Jack laughed at his expression and reached out a hand to ruffle his hair, an action that left Jonny uncertain how he felt. 

He didn’t like Jack, hated the jobs the man had him do and the way he felt like he couldn’t say no to them, but there were occasional moments of kindness that made him feel confused. A plate of food shoved in front of him along with a comment that he was too skinny, a bit of cash surreptitiously slipped in his hand at the end of a job, or help patching up a wound like today. 

He didn’t get it, didn’t know the reasons for Jack’s actions, but sometimes he wondered if that’s what a father should actually be like.

* * *

“Woah!” Jonny d’Ville’s eyes widened in wonder as he took in the snowy planet in front of him; his home planet had been hot and dry, he didn’t know if it was possible for it to snow there, but if it was it had certainly never happened during his life. They visited planets in the past where it did snow, however they’d never been lucky enough to get there during the right season; their current planet however was one eternally stuck in winter. 

Jonny was practically vibrating with excitement as he waited for Carmilla to be ready to leave the ship; they were only staying for a day, just long enough for the doctor to pick up some things and to refuel, so every second counted. 

“Jonny.” He turned as Carmilla called his name and promptly found himself hit in the face by a warm coat. “It’s freezing out there, bundle up” 

“What’s the worst that could happen? I die of frostbite?” It wasn’t like it would stick, he’d just end up reviving after a little while and be fine. Still despite his scornful words he pulled on the coat and buttoned it up, “Can we go already?”

Carmilla gave an amused smirk at Jonny’s ill disguised excitement and opened the ship's door, “Now remember, we’re only staying for one day, so don’t wander off too far. If you’re not back by sunset, I’ll leave without you.” 

It didn’t feel like much of a threat to Jonny; she really would do it, he knew that, but he also knew that she’d eventually come back for him. Really all it would do was give him more time to enjoy the snow, and maybe cause a little havoc, so there wasn’t really any downside. Still, Carmilla seemed to be waiting for a reply and so he nodded in agreement. 

He wasn’t really sure whether she believed him or not, but she moved out of the doorway and left the ship, with him following close behind. His first steps out into the snow found him sinking up to his knees, and he heard Carmilla laugh at the expression of surprise on his face, he had been expecting it to be a bit more solid. 

“Keep up Jonny.” The doctor told him, making her way through the snow with an ease that annoyed Jonny. In the distance he could see the blurry looking city that they were headed for, though he wasn’t really sure whether the lack of clarity in its appearance was due to how far away it was or because of his own eyesight issues. Ever since the incident that had resulted in Carmilla mechanizing him, his eyesight had lost a lot of its sharpness. He couldn’t say for certain the cause of it, the events that had occurred were rather fuzzy; but Carmilla had said when he went down he’d hit his head hard, and he remembered an old man from his old planet had lost his sight after being beaten half to death with a pipe. 

It had been several decades since then and there had been no improvement, so he was fairly certain nothing was ever going to change; at least not unless Carmilla did something, but while it was very possible she knew something was up by the way his skills at aiming had decreased, she hadn't said anything and he hadn’t told her. It scared him too much to imagine what she might do to try and fix it, there were enough painful things she put him through on a regular, and even if she said they were for his own good it didn’t mean he wanted more of it. 

“I believe I told you to keep up.” The small hint of annoyance in her voice sent a shiver down Jonny’s spine and he immediately quickened his steps. 

“Sorry.” He muttered, somehow managing to struggle through the deep snow to reach her side. “Got distracted.” For a moment she just stared at him, before letting out a sigh, 

“Just try and stay focused until we get to town please. You can go off on your own then and do whatever you like, but for now I’d like to hurry along and get out of the cold.” Now that Carmilla had mentioned the cold, Jonny realized just how bad it was, even with the coat he’d been given didn’t completely block it out. The worst part was the effect it seemed to be having on the location where the metal of his mechanism met the skin of the rest of his chest, it seemed to burn as if there was heat surrounding them instead of the cold. Absently he rubbed at it with the butt of his palm and the movement caught Carmilla’s keen eyes.

“Is your mechanism having trouble?” She demanded more than questioned, and Jonny winced. 

“Just kinda cold.” He muttered, hoping she wouldn’t feel the need to do anything about it, it hadn’t even been a week since the last time she’d performed maintenance and he really didn’t feel like being cut open again so soon. The doctor pursed her lips and gave him a calculating look, before saying words Jonny really didn’t want to hear. 

“I’ll have to look into some kind of cold resistant covering, I suppose.” She didn’t say anything more after that and they continued to walk in silence, the city growing nearer and nearer. It seemed it had mostly been Jonny’s eyesight making it seem blurry and it wasn’t actually that far away. 

As they entered through the gate, Jonny’s attention was immediately drawn by a nearby shop from which the lovely smell of baked goods was drifting. As she caught sight of the direction his gaze was looking, Carmilla rolled her eyes and shoved him gently in that direction. 

“Go on, just make sure…”

“To be back by sunset, I know.” Jonny interrupted, bouncing slightly on his heels in excitement. Carmilla didn’t look exactly pleased at having been interrupted, but she seemed willing to let it go. 

“One more thing, if you’re planning on causing trouble…” She paused for a moment, looking at him with a stern expression. “Don’t get caught.” 

Jonny grinned.

“Got it.”

* * *

Jonny’s heart was racing as he ran through the halls of the ship, he didn’t know where he was headed, but he knew he had to hide. He’d shot Carmilla! 

He’d never tried to fight back before, not with anything but words, because she’d told him the things she did was for his own good and he’d wanted to believe her. That was most likely the only reason he’d actually managed to kill her, because she hadn’t been expecting it in the least. To be fair though, he hadn’t been expecting it either, he’d just wanted the pain to stop and had reacted instinctively. He didn’t know whether that would do anything to dull the anger Carmilla would likely feel once she revived though, so his only concern was to find someone to hide until she’d cooled down. 

Of course, that was easier said than done; Carmilla had been shot in the middle of working on him, and he knew he was leaving a trail of blood behind him that would lead her straight to him. There was no time to kill himself in order to heal though, not when the doctor would revive long before him. 

Things were made worse by the fact that he really didn’t have any idea where he was going, they’d only had the Aurora for a very short while and for all that Carmilla seemed to have already figured out where everything was, he had not. If he took a wrong turn then for all he knew he could end up right back in front of the lab. 

“C’mon….” He muttered to himself, as he turned a corner and ran down another unfamiliar hallway. “Think of something Jonny.”

As if in response to his plea, a vent over head fell open, offering him a new path. For a moment Jonny hesitated, he knew the ship was alive so this had to be her doing, which meant it could very possibly be a trap; maybe she was trying to lead him right back to Carmilla. It wasn’t like his current prospects were doing him any good though, and it would be nice to have a way to travel without leaving an obvious blood trail. It would be fairly obvious where he’d entered though, so just to be safe he traveled a few more hallways ahead, before backtracking to the open vent and climbing up into it. 

It was somewhat of a surprise how roomy the vents were, and while he certainly wasn’t complaining, he couldn’t help but wonder about the reason behind that design choice. As he crawled further though them, a trail of blood which would certainly be a surprise to anyone who ever decided to clean the vents left behind, he found himself becoming more and more nervous; he still had no idea where he was going and nowhere to run if anything were to happen. 

He’d just decided to drop out of the next vent he’d come across, when what he’d thought was just part of the side paneling fell open, revealing a passage behind it. For a moment he froze, before letting out a small laugh. 

“You really are helping me, aren’t you?” He addressed the ship, feeling almost giddy over the fact that he had someone on his side. He’d been worried the ship had something against him, after all according to Carmilla the Aurora could talk, and yet so far she’d never said a word to him.   
The Aurora seemed to hum slightly in confirmation to his comment, and he grinned as he slipped through the hole and dropped down into a new room. A quick glance around informed him that it seemed to be a store room of some sort, one of the ones they hadn’t yet gotten around to sorting through yet. He didn’t know what the boxes held, thought he supposed he’d have plenty of time to find out, but the important thing was they’d provide a good hiding spot. Sitting down in the shadow of on of the larger boxes, he leaned his head against the wall and listened to the vibration of the engines through them. He knew he wouldn’t be able to hide forever, eventually Carmilla would find him and he’d be punished; but for the moment, with the soft hum of the Aurora around him, he felt safe.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally this was supposed to be a one chapter fic and include all the mechs, but then I realized I did not have the time to get that all planned out and written in time, so the others will come in future chapters. 
> 
> We don't know much about Billy Vangelis or One Eyed Jack, so their parts are written totally based off my impressions on them from One Eyed Jacks and my own headcanons. ~~And also a comment on youtube that offered up the theory that Jack was Jonny's real father and won't leave my head~~
> 
> The scene with Carmilla is mean to take place pretty early on during her and Jonny's travels, so while he can be scared of her at times, he still trusts her and the hatred isn't there yet. Hopefully, I did them justice, their relationship is so interesting to write. 
> 
> I have no idea when the scene with Aurora takes place exactly, is Nastya part of the crew yet? Who knows. The important part is that she and Jonny are friends.


End file.
